The CBB :: View topic - What we have lost

through

#1: What we have lost Author: Róisín, Location: Gaillimh

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:37 pm
—
What pieces of social convention/ tradition/ general culture appear in the writings of EBD that no longer really exist? I am always thinking of this when I'm reading her books. There are so many references to social practices and just generally Accepted Things, which aren't anymore, if that makes sense.

Some of them, it is debatable about whether or not they needed to be gotten rid of, ie women working after marriage. But there are lots of smaller things that made tonnes of sense, like making/mending your own clothes, holidaying with cousins, eating as a family at set times etc etc. And these things seem to be mostly gone, replaced by what? Sad

What does anyone else think?

#2: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:45 pm
—
I'm hopeless at sewing so I don't regret losing the tradition of making your own clothes! However, I do think we waste a lot of things now - the CS girls are often seen busy darning, whereas I must admit that I tend to chuck out laddered tights Embarassed

.

I also regret that I don't cook as much as either of my grandmas did when they were alive, but when I get in from work I just don't feel like starting chopping vegetables and so on - it's easier to shove something from Tesco on a baking tray!

This may sound odd but I kind of regret the fact that so few letters are written now. I keep in touch with people by e-mail and text whom I probably wouldn't keep in touch with nearly as much if I had to sit down and write a letter, or even pick up the phone at a time convenient to us both, but I always liked writing letters, and especially receiving letters! You don't tend to keep e-mails like you keep letters.

This isn't really a "tradition" as such, but one of my favourite things about the CS books is reading about the different places, especially in the Tyrol books. These days so many places look so similar - McDonalds and other big high street names, and local traditions often seem only to be preserved for tourists.

Hmm - had better do some work Rolling Eyes

#3: Author: Karry, Location: Stoke on Trent

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:46 pm
—
Darning socks, using a wooden mushroom

Puttting hair up

Calling adults Auntie and Uncle, even if they were not related to you! (I would never have dreamt of calling my parents' freinds anything but Aunt and Uncle)

Bottling fruit, and vegetables - we always had salted green beans at christmas

#4: Author: Róisín, Location: Gaillimh

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:50 pm
—
Letter writing - that's a big one and I forgot it. I worry that in 200 years time nothing much will survive of people's personal relationships ie there'll be no documentary evidence. Confused

#5: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:56 pm
—

Róisín wrote:

Letter writing - that's a big one and I forgot it. I worry that in 200 years time nothing much will survive of people's personal relationships ie there'll be no documentary evidence. Confused

Me too. Having spent ages trying to read Victorian handwriting I sometimes wish that they'd used typewriters then Laughing

, but I don't know how people are going to cope with studying 2006 in 200 years' time - most people don't print off personal e-mails unless they contain something really important, or keep records of texts or phone calls.

I always put my photos in albums with dates and details (I'm sad like that) but a lot of people just seem to store them on computers now, so they don't even have photo albums as a record of events.

Hmm Rolling Eyes

#6: Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:01 pm
—
I think getting away from the habit of mending and reusing is sad, having said that, I barely have time to do my washing, let alone mending!

#7: Author: Catriona, Location: South Yorkshire

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:47 pm
—
Interesting topic! One I shall have to think about a bit more, but one thing that comes to mind is the strong structure and routine of their lives - meals taken together at the same time each day, getting up times, bedtimes, regulated exercise, study/learning time, "play" time - but they could never just relax; they always had to be doing something. Never being able to go off and just be on your own I would find terribly difficult.

#8: Author: Katherine, Location: London, UK

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:49 pm
—
Letting fresh air into the workplace. Right now I am grateful for my sealed, air conditioned building (temperature outside is hovering around 30C where I am) but in general I'm fresh-air-loving and loathe double glazed unopenable windows. Whereas they seem to regard it as very important - think the Stuffer and Maria - and all the open windows in the middle of winter - and at a time with no central heating.

Anyone done a proper examination?

Last edited by Katherine on Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:55 pm; edited 1 time in total

#9: Author: Róisín, Location: Gaillimh

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:53 pm
—

Catriona wrote:

... one thing that comes to mind is the strong structure and routine of their lives...

Yes, it seems impossible to achieve that these days but back then it seemed to be a given, something that permeated their class of society and was unspokenly followed.

#10: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 6:30 pm
—
I agree with the letter writing thing, I always love receiving post so I wish I got more letters Very Happy

My family and I always eat supper together at the same time every night, we have all our meals together. I think it's a shame that more people don't do it. It's not like we have particularly sparkling conversation and talk about our days but it's nice family time which so many people seem to miss out on when everyone eats seperately whenever they want.

#11: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 6:39 pm
—
My mother is a great advocate of eating meals all together, so that the family can bond. It's also a great way of showing kids acceptable table manners.

I do get letters from my mother, and love receiving them, but compared with ten years ago, I seldom receive anything from anyone else. It's such a shame that we have lost this way of keeping in touch, as you tell people more in a letter than in a text or email.

People were so much more social then, sitting together in the evening as they read or sewed, whereas I always disappeared into my room after tea, and I'm sure that's what the majority of teenagers do now.

#12: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 6:42 pm
—

Fatima wrote:

People were so much more social then, sitting together in the evening as they read or sewed, whereas I always disappeared into my room after tea, and I'm sure that's what the majority of teenagers do now.

That's what my brother does and I find it really odd. When I was at school, I used to disappear to do homework but most evenings, I sit with my parents and watch TV or whatever with them. I hate being in my room alone in the evening and it seems pointless when we are normally watching the same thing anyway!

#13: Author: Caty, Location: New Zealand

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:25 am
—
Knowing how to entertain yourself/a group of people without TVs/computers/dvd players etc. Playing cards, hobbies, doing jigsaws are all things children don't do much of anymore, except at Christmas when forced to do so by parents. As for charades & paper games....

#14: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 6:15 am
—

Caty wrote:

Playing cards, hobbies, doing jigsaws are all things children don't do much of anymore, except at Christmas when forced to do so by parents.

We're now on holiday from school and my nine (soon to be ten) year old daughter has celebrated by getting out the jigsaw puzzles and doing them. When I saw her, it reminded me so much of the 'old days' when we had done such things. Even though my children have them, they don't do them very often.

#15: Author: little_sarah, Location: Liverpool/Manchester

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 1:08 pm
—

Caty wrote:

Playing cards, hobbies, doing jigsaws are all things children don't do much of anymore, except at Christmas when forced to do so by parents. As for charades & paper games....

Just thought I'd mention here, I spent the weekend on a Student Scout and Guide camp, and we spent at least a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon playing charades and "Guess Who" and doing a pub quiz (in a field!) and similar stuff. It was a bit warm to be doing anything strenuous, but it just shows that the ability to entertain ourselves without technology hasn't been completely lost. Very Happy

#16: Author: Chris, Location: Nottingham

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 1:14 pm
—
Our family has always eaten together, that is the children and I have during the week, and with their Dad at weekends because he works long hours. It always led to interesting conversation, and often discussions about drugs, sex, going out, smoking, etc., which it isn't always easy to introduce at other times.

However, now they are all late teens with their own lives, it isn't easy getting everyone together, but we manage as often as possible.

I always made them go to bed at regular, early times for as long as possible; partly because it was good for them and partly so I could have some time apart from them in the evening.

Personally, I like routine - can you tell?!

#17: Author: JayB, Location: SE England

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 2:20 pm
—
Instant and unquestioning obedience. Rolling Eyes

Although I'm not sure how realistic it ever was, unless you had an exceptionally meek and timid child. I think there'd be cause for concern if a child never disobeyed. But I think there's a middle way between instant and unquestioning and complete ignoring of the parents as one sees so often today.

Jay B.

#18: Re: What we have lost Author: Nicci, Location: UK

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:54 pm
—

Róisín wrote:

making/mending your own clothes

One of my duties at Matron is mending clothes. Presumably this is because the girls are too young to expect them to do it. I will be interested to know whether the students at the senior school mend their clothes or whether its done by a matron or just new ones are bought.

#19: Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 4:40 pm
—
I don't remember having to do mending when I was in school, except perhaps sewing buttons on. They do seem to tear their clothes a lot! Mind you, we didn't wear those awful stockings that they did! We have knee length sock in winter, held up with knicker elstic, and ankle socks in summer. I think the 6th could were stockings, but the proper nylon ones, not the thick things that needed darning! And everyone had bottles of nail varnish to stop ladders in those days! I never mended my stockings when they went, ever!

#20: Author: JayB, Location: SE England

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:31 pm
—
We mended our tights. The wooden desks and chairs at school were murder on tights and stockings, especially as this was the era of the mini skirt. Tights were expensive when they first came in, and as teenagers we couldn't afford to keep replacing them. You could get a card with nylon thread in different shades to match up to your tights or stockings. I remember girls with very long hair used to pull out a couple of hairs to use for mending. And it wasn't unknown to see girls with tights cobbled together with white cotton. Needless to say we didn't darn properly, just caught the edges together as best we could.

Jay B.

#21: Author: Alex, Location: Cambs, UK

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 7:24 pm
—
I think I need to learn to darn as all my socks are holed at the toes and I can't really afford to replace them. I love writing letters, and getting them. My Dad tells me that on a recent residential school trip (8 and 9 year olds) the staff were astounded at the number of children who couldn't use a knife and fork, to the point where next year they are going to put "please ensure your child can use a knife and fork" on the letter.

Whilst curtseying to the Head is a bit extreme, I do think that people are quite lacking in manners - often don't say please and thankyou and a lot of people swear quite freely in public. I'm working in a shop at the moment so I notice it particularly, also the amount of people who are rude to shop assistants etc and clearly think they're (a) funny/clever or (b) justified because the thing they want isn't possible.

#22: Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:47 am
—
It's a trade off in some cases, though.

Instant and unquestioning obedience + immediate and unconditional respect for authority figures can produce polite, well behaved, quiet children. It can lead to abuses of power, and leave the person being abused without any course of action. It can also lead to the classic "But I was only following orders" response to war crimes.

Women must stay home after marriage + no labour rights for servants means there is a full time homemaker plus servants at home ensuring regular, home cooked meals, home made clothing, darned socks, keeping everyone on schedule. Women can work after marriage + reasonable pay for servants means that clothing is bought rather than made and the meals are quicker and not necessarily on schedule.

Non existent or expensive phone systems + much longer transportation times means that people wrote extensive, regular letters to keep in touch. It also meant that you could go years without seeing family members, students could go semesters without speaking to their parents, and contacting someone in an emergency meant a telegram, with no promise that you'd actually be able to get there in time.

#23: Author: Rosie, Location: Brest. Still amuses me...

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:54 am
—
*thinks*

I still go semesters without speaking to my parents. And my mother always sounds incredibly surprised when I do call. Even when it is to discuss such things as 'collecting your youngest daughter from uni/station'...

#24: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:09 am
—
My mum thinks mobile phones are the greatest thing since sliced bread - I'm supposed to text at least once every 2 days when on holiday!

#25: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:10 am
—
My parents think they're an abomination and have said that I should never text them, as they don't even want to learn how to 'do' texts. They only bought the phone so they could call the family while on holiday abroad! They adore MSN and webcams, though, so perhaps there is hope for them yet!

#26: Author: Mrs Redboots, Location: London, UK

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:05 pm
—
I think the thing that made me realise quite how much times have changed was visiting the current incarnation of my old House at school a couple of years back, and the first thing you saw was a list of people's mobile numbers pinned to the notice-board!

In my day, we were allowed to telephone home, and to receive calls from home, with permission, but in an ideal world you reversed the charges and as there was one line, and I think two instruments, for a community of nearly 50, it was incumbent on you to be quick. Moreover, it was seriously expensive - many calls couldn't yet be dialled directly (and certainly not if you reversed the charges) so you had to go through an operator, and it could take several minutes to be connected. Of course, you could only receive calls from parents and guardians.....

#27: Author: moonlitsparkle, Location: Yorkshire, England

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:13 pm
—
Sometimes it would be quite nice to get tucked in bed for several days for minor colds etc. These days people seem to struggle on through a lot of things, and probably pass bugs on to dozens of others as well!

On the subject of letters, my brother thinks I'm mad because I have lots of penpals, both old friends and people I've never met. There is quite a thriving network of people across the world still doing it for the enjoyment of keeping the 'lost art of letters' alive. It's lovely to receive proper, long letters two or three times a week!

#28: Author: tiffinata, Location: melbourne, australia

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:49 pm
—
Respect, from each other and ourselves.

Proper English (yeah, like, y'know) Sad

You valued what you had often because their wasn't money to replace it.

The sense of community. How many of your neighbours do you know?

#29: Author: Kathye, Location: Staines

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:14 pm
—
The general knowledge that most people had of how to sew, cook, garden etc..

and basic things like how to make a candle, dye clothes naturally.

I often think that if the fabric of the world most of us live in today came crashing down, we wouldn't know how to do so many of the basics. Of course we would learn eventually but all that inherited knowledge passed down from one generation to the next has been lost over the last few generations.

#30: Author: alicat, Location: Wiltshire

Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:03 am
—
we have lost some useful things and also some things have changed that needed changing
useful: basic sewing skills!!!! I taught my 11-yr-old to sew nametapes on last week (for a school trip where they insisted even knickers were named!!!) and felt a bit of a failure as a parent that I had assumed school would do this. have realised I now need to teach her basic sewing like poutting on buttons, mending tears in clothes and slpit seams.
as for instant obedience: it is still surely important to teach this to little children, as otherwise they get run over, put their hands on fires etc. the thing we seem to have to do now is to teach them sense when they get older - for example, using public transport, finding their way to places on foot because so many go everywhere by car, buyting things in shops. teens need to learn to make decisions but if you haven't taight them the sensible reasons for doing things when they're little they never learn.

#31: Author: Lyanne, Location: Ipswich, England

Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:01 pm
—
Walking! My sister-in-law & her 3 children came round & we went to the park, but her children kept complaining at how far it was to walk & her youngest had to be carried back. They were then aged 9, 6 & 5 - and the park was ¼ mile away (0.4 of a kilometre, if I've worked it out right). But she drives... My 10 year walks a mile to school & a mile home again, and my 3 year old walks the mile to preschool (he does go in the buggy some of the way home).

moonlitsparkle wrote

Quote:

Sometimes it would be quite nice to get tucked in bed for several days for minor colds etc. These days people seem to struggle on through a lot of things, and probably pass bugs on to dozens of others as well!

I'm sure we'd recover better, and there would be less chronic fatigue. And quarantining people with infectious illnesses, not sending them into preschool with chicken pox becasue it's not convenient to have them at home. Mad

#32: Author: Liane, Location: Manchester

Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:23 pm
—

Alex wrote:

Whilst curtseying to the Head is a bit extreme, I do think that people are quite lacking in manners - often don't say please and thankyou and a lot of people swear quite freely in public. I'm working in a shop at the moment so I notice it particularly, also the amount of people who are rude to shop assistants etc and clearly think they're (a) funny/clever or (b) justified because the thing they want isn't possible.

Tell me about it! I work in retail and while some people can be very nice many of them are awful. There are a few in our shop who are that bad that, when we see them coming, most of us will go in the back until they leave.

#33: Author: Rosy-Jess, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth

Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 11:59 am
—

Rosie wrote:

*thinks*

I still go semesters without speaking to my parents. And my mother always sounds incredibly surprised when I do call. Even when it is to discuss such things as 'collecting your youngest daughter from uni/station'...

You see, I find that mind boggling, because I speak to my parents almost everyday, and Grandma usually once a week. Mind you, that might be because in my undergraduate days I had a habit of keeling over unexpectedly and they worry as a result.

#34: Author: Caty, Location: New Zealand

Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 12:31 pm
—
When I was travelling last year, I didn't phone home for 3 months. But with the wonders of email I was still able to keep in touch. I also managed to send lots of postcards, which surprised most of the other travellers I met. I had an awful hunt for Christmas cards last December too but finally found some.

#35: Author: Mrs Redboots, Location: London, UK

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:58 am
—
We have lost an awful lot, really. Mostly freedom.

Our children are no longer free to play in the streets or parks with their friends, to make friends of other adults, even (or perhaps especially) ones their parents know and trust such as youth leaders, Sunday-school teachers, and so on. Are they even free, in many cases, to go round to a friend's house to play, in case friend's parents should turn out to be paedophiles? How many parents feel they can't entrust their children to the care of a babysitter, in case the babysitter turns out to be a paedophile?

We've lost the freedom to allow our children to find books in the public library that, should they happen to be white, middle-class and the product of two straight parents who are married to each other, reflect their circumstances.

They are not allowed to know that smoking was once thought to be socially acceptable. Nor may they know that Britain once had an Empire and that this did have its good points.

They are not allowed to do any activity that might engender personal risk - how long is it before swimming and visits to the gym are banned as inherently dangerous? Nor are they taught that accidents happen and can be Just One of Those Things - no, if anything goes wrong, they are taught to find out Who Is to Blame, and to sue them.

I suspect the next generation will be bred up to sit in front of their computers all day long, only relating to other people by the Internet.

I LOATHE this new Puritanism!

#36: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:32 pm
—
I loathe this Nanny-state that we seem to be descending into. I don't need a lot of the advice we're given. Last year I received an expensive printed booklet, 1st Class post, telling me what to do in the event of an emergency.

Why would I not have thought of phoning the Fire Service if my house caught on fire? I do wonder sometimes.

But the reverse is the worst, or so I think it. We report crimes and nothing is done about them, so it's no wonder we're disillusioned.

And so much public money is wasted - our local hospital is paying a firm of management consultants to tell them who to make redundant. you've guessed it, it's nurses who are going to lose their jobs, not admin staff.

#37: Author: Therill,

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:36 pm
—

Mrs Redboots wrote:

We've lost the freedom to allow our children to find books in the public library that, should they happen to be white, middle-class and the product of two straight parents who are married to each other, reflect their circumstances.

While I agree with you about regretting the loss of freedom to play outside freely (although I do wonder if it was ever as true for girls as it was for boys), I do want to take issue with the above.

You see, I think that it's vital that children read things that do not reflect their circumstances. A random sweep of the shelves at any bookshop or library will show you, in the childrens' section, that the books still have characters who are exclusively (or very close to it) heterosexual, generally white, and probably more than fifty percent of the time even middle class. There are more orphans and products of single-parent families than is statistically likely, but that's always been true of kids' books; parents get in the way of the adventure.

Now aside from kids who are gay or asian or etcetera, and who have the right to read books that reflect their circumstances too, your straight, white, middle-class kid should also be able to read about kids who are different from them. Because that's how we first learn to see from another's point of view. It's one of the first steps to avoiding bigotry, which is the thing that I'm most glad our society is gradually and painfully moving away from. So, I'm delighted if there are more books that reflect differences than there used to be. *coughs* *gets off soapbox*

#38: Author: Mel, Location: UP NORTH

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:03 pm
—
I regret that children cannot be children any more. I don't mean until they are 18+ as in the CS but I find it grievous that Primary school kids wear thongs and lip gloss and worry that they haven't got a boyfriend/girlfriend. Also the tremendous peer pressure that children are under means that they have to be very tough to join Guides/ballet/play the cello/do anything interesting, otherwise they are ridiculed.

#39: Author: Lolly, Location: London

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 5:24 pm
—
We seem to have lost Zoom ice lollies which is a big shame in weather like this.

#40: Author: Katherine, Location: London, UK

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 5:26 pm
—

Lolly wrote:

We seem to have lost Zoom ice lollies which is a big shame in weather like this.

But we still have Fabs!
Although I am rather fond of the new Del Monte Smoothie lolly, especially when on 2 for 1!

#41: Author: Rosy-Jess, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:03 pm
—

Katherine wrote:

Lolly wrote:

We seem to have lost Zoom ice lollies which is a big shame in weather like this.

But we still have Fabs!

Fabs are gorgeousness.

What annoys me is how hard it is to find lollies which don't have dried milk in. Oddly, even the fruit ones do sometimes. Even though they make me ill, I occasionally succomb to them. Yummy.

When I have a house of my own I shall make my own lollies and it will be okay!

#42: Author: Loryat,

Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:07 pm
—

Rosy-Jess wrote:

When I have a house of my own I shall make my own lollies and it will be okay!

Are people still capable of making their own lollies then?

What have we lost?

Letters.
One of my best friends lives in England. For ages I refused to email her cos I think a letter is lots better. But I never get round to writing a nice letter, and end up emailing her instead, then feeling guilty that I've contributed to the breakdown in non-electronic communicatio.

Making things.
I took up knitting last year and love it, and just got a sewing machine for my birthday so will hopefully soon be able to sew my own clothes too. However both these passtimes are much less common that they were say fifty years ago, which I think is a shame.

Apart from anything else, people feel good about thmselves if they can create things, and now lots of people who would be talented at that sort of thing will never get the satisfaction of knowing that they have a worthwhile skill. (The Sybils of this world!)

When I go to buy patterns, wool etc, I feel sad about all the other passtimes (embroidery and so on) that will probably die with all the people who are currently old ladies. I feel like I should take them all up just to save them!

Innocence.
While I do NOT believe in wrapping children in cotton wool and repressing sexuality till children are about seventeen (a la CS), I feel that we've gone in the other extreme and you now get children of five and six talking about their 'feelings' for other children. I just don't think this is natural in most cases, and is probably a result of all the sex in the media today. Close to where I live an 11 year old girl got pregnant recently. She also drinks (was drunk when she concieved), smokes, and has tried drugs. This kind of thing is becoming more and more comon and it's just not a natural state for a child. Whatever happened to dolls and rounders? When I was at primary school we played a game called 'hunt the (insert c-word here). Now, kids should not be playing that kind of game!

As regards the diversity in childrens books, I think it's a good thing. While I don't believe in some kind of enforced political correctness, where everyone must have one non-white friend for example (which is just insulting to non-white people) equally I don't like that for years childrens books were dominated by white middle class children.

Every time I started a book with characters that were supposedly 'poor' I would quickly realise that while they might be poorer than some of their friends, they still had a maid and went to a private school. And so on. When I found books with working class children I was always really pleased (though generally the working class children would end up pregnant or on drugs). I suppose it must be the same for people from other sections of society hitherto excluded from literature.

The PC brigade have clearly not had that much of an effect. Look at popular childrens books. Harry Potter is dominated by white people from the middle classes, as are the Lemony Snicket books and Philip Pullman's Dark Materials.

Edited for spelling, and I'm still not sure if 'passtimes' is the right spelling! In fatc, I'm sure it's not.

#43: Author: Kathye, Location: Staines

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 9:05 am
—

Rosy-Jess wrote:

When I have a house of my own I shall make my own lollies and it will be okay!

We make our own lollies and you can now buy a pack from Lakeland so you can make your own with proper sticks in!

I was very good and resisted

I much prefer knowing what is in the lollies I give to Megan and she loves helping me make them

#44: Author: jonty, Location: Exeter

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:03 am
—
As a regular bus-user, I regret that we've lost the art of speaking in quiet tones on public transport, so as not to inconvenience our fellow-travellers. Until a couple of years ago I would always ask the person with the incredibly loud 'personal' stereo to please turn it down. Now I don't bother, because there are so many of them, and the last few times I asked, the person in question looked blankly uncomprehending, completely unable to understand the outlandish request.

We've also lost compulsory hat-wearing, though a less formal type of hat is making a comeback in this hot summer. I sort of regret that, because I like hats, but I wouldn't want to force them on everyone.

#45: Author: Changnoi, Location: Milwaukee, USA

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:38 pm
—
I'm not sure if we ever had this as a society, or if I am just old and curmudgeonly, but...

consideration for others

I was getting ready to amen jonty's comment about people using loud headphones on buses, but then what I was thinking is people having really irrelevant cell phone conversations very loudly in places where it's not particularly appropriate to have them. Like libraries. Or right when the plane lands, just because they can. People have become so strident about the need to/the right to express themselves that it doesn't matter who else they have to offend or stifle or just be really inconsiderate to in order to do it. It reminds me of a scene in Malory Towers, actually, in which Darrell says something about the importance of standing on your own feet without treading on other people's toes in order to do it. We've lost the idea of not treading on other people's toes. We think somehow that if other people's toes hurt, it's their problem, they're too sensitive. And while I understand that the modern world really encourages people to grab what they can before the big corporations take the rest of it away, we don't really have any scruples left...

Chang

#46: Author: Squirrel, Location: St-Andrews or Dunfermline

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:13 pm
—

Lyanne wrote:

Walking! My sister-in-law & her 3 children came round & we went to the park, but her children kept complaining at how far it was to walk & her youngest had to be carried back. They were then aged 9, 6 & 5 - and the park was ¼ mile away (0.4 of a kilometre, if I've worked it out right). But she drives... My 10 year walks a mile to school & a mile home again, and my 3 year old walks the mile to preschool (he does go in the buggy some of the way home).

If you think that was bad, we have a story of when my brother was about 3, and being used to the car he was dropped off to stay with my Gran who had no car. She suggested that they go to the park (a 10-15 minute walk). Apparently he asked how they would get there, and her responce was that they would walk there, but if it was too far they would take the bus. He apparently took 2-3 minutes to consider it, before asking "but how will we get to the bus stop?" Rolling Eyes

#47: Author: JayB, Location: SE England

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:48 pm
—

Changnoi wrote:

consideration for others...

People have become so strident about the need to/the right to express themselves that it doesn't matter who else they have to offend or stifle or just be really inconsiderate to in order to do it.

I would add under this heading foul language in public. When I was growing up one never heard the f-word used casually. Now when using public transport one has to put up with hearing it, and worse, all the time.

Jay B.

#48: Author: Lisa A., Location: North Yorkshire

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 8:01 pm
—
I agree. I live in a town centre and just about every single night there is a procession of absolutely plastered people (male and female, old and young) SCREAMING f words and worse as they come out of pubs. Now I have done my fair share of falling out of pubs and indeed using unparliamentary language on occasion, but where did this consistent horrible behaviour come from?

#49: Author: Sarah_L, Location: Leeds

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:21 pm
—
Unfortunately, so many people these days seem to think the f-word can be used interchangeably with 'very', in all situations. It is something I really, really hate.

#50: Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:22 pm
—
I think that many of them don't even know that they're using it! Rolling Eyes

I sometimes have a wry smile when I look at how impossible the action would be in most cases!

#51: Author: Lottie, Location: Humphrey's Corner

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:58 pm
—
I was on jury service last year, and we had to listen to a policeman and a barrister reading a transcript of a conversation between the two defendants, who used f***ing every other word, or so it seemed. Shocked

#52: Author: Vashti,

Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 8:23 pm
—

Alison H wrote:

I'm hopeless at sewing so I don't regret losing the tradition of making your own clothes! However, I do think we waste a lot of things now - the CS girls are often seen busy darning, whereas I must admit that I tend to chuck out laddered tights Embarassed

Don't feel too bad about throwing out laddered tights. Modern tights are made to be disposable, and have been for ages - they're next to impossible to mend without triggering dozens of other tiny ladders. They're designed to rip.

The idea of things being made to last and not being forced into obsolescence so that they need replacing to feed the blessed economy is another thing we've lost.

#53: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 10:35 pm
—

Vashti wrote:

The idea of things being made to last and not being forced into obsolescence so that they need replacing to feed the blessed economy is another thing we've lost.

A current example : Our gas cooker 'only' 15 yrs old had an ignition system that died. The Corgi (UK registered Gas fitter) tried a new unit but it didn't work. A check of the internal wiring as it needed taking the Gas Cooker apart would cost more than a new cooker. As I cannot kneel down to light the oven, we ended up buying a new one. Rolling Eyes

We could not even give the old one to someone with knees which work properly because no Corgi fitter would install it - he would be liable for any consequent accident if he did.

#54: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 2:29 pm
—
What about not getting any service any more, at a reasonable rate? Believe me, when I tried to get a service engineer out to mend my old washing machine, (only seven years' old), the callout charge and repair fee, plus parts, came to more than my new washing machine cost. I told them to stick it.

#55: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 7:49 pm
—
My 1st washing machine (very expensive top of the range one) broke after 3 years when I got the engineer out he said it would be £200 + to fix it or buy a new one £150 Shocked

He said that they are not meant to last now. Sad

Latest one has lasted 4 years and is now broken again Sad

Can't get anyone to fix it now either Evil or Very Mad

#56: Author: Charity,

Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:50 pm
—

jonty wrote:

As a regular bus-user, I regret that we've lost the art of speaking in quiet tones on public transport, so as not to inconvenience our fellow-travellers. Until a couple of years ago I would always ask the person with the incredibly loud 'personal' stereo to please turn it down. Now I don't bother, because there are so many of them, and the last few times I asked, the person in question looked blankly uncomprehending, completely unable to understand the outlandish request.

We've also lost compulsory hat-wearing, though a less formal type of hat is making a comeback in this hot summer. I sort of regret that, because I like hats, but I wouldn't want to force them on everyone.

My SLOC recently asked a teenager on a bus to stop playing loud rap music on his mobile. I wouldn't have dared, for fear of abuse or even violence (this often occurs here in London). Fortunately this one only shrugged and carried on. Nowadays I'm grateful if they have any headphones at all Mad

#57: Author: Kate, Location: Ireland

Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 9:32 pm
—
Ohh, people playing music too loudly so that you hear tinny music playing really really annoys me. I think it's my biggest pet peeve.

#58: Author: Polly, Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 10:00 pm
—
Yes, but they will get divine retribution, as they are destroying their hearing by having the sound up so loudly, and will therefore in the future be unable to hear the sounds they love playing to annoy everyone else!

Pete Thownsend from The Who has lost most of his hearing through playing in their gigs for years and in the same article they mentioned that large numbers of young people are being seen for hearing problems (some very severe) because they have had music coming through headphones far too loudly!

#59: Author: Rosie, Location: Brest. Still amuses me...

Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:44 pm
—
Oh yes, that one drives me BANANAS. Not least as I don't listen to much music myself really, other than, say, the radio when washing up. If I don't want to hear music properly, I certainly don't want to hear it second0hand buzzing away on a bus!

#60: Author: macyrose, Location: Great White North (Canada)

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:04 am
—
If I wrote what I really think about people who play loud music .... well, let's just say it would probably not be approved by the mods. Evil or Very Mad

I developed severe sleeping problems due to neighbors who played loud music at all times of the day and night and the landlord of the apartment I was in couldn't have cared less. Fortunately I was eventually able to move from the hellhole but the sleeping problems are still with me.

#61: Author: Kate, Location: Ireland

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 3:16 pm
—
((((macyrose))))

*sharpens the poking sticks*

#62: Author: macyrose, Location: Great White North (Canada)

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 4:57 pm
—
Much appreciated, Kate! Wish I had had those sticks then. I definitely know how I would have used them.

The CBB -> Anything Else

output generated using printer-friendly topic mod. All times are GMT + 1 Hour

Page 1 of 1